Ahmadinejad (Iran), Chavez (Venezuela) and Ortega (Nicaragua) may be friends.
http://iran-daily.com/1385/2758/html/
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was greeted by his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on Jan. 13, and by his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega in Managua, Jan. 14.
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Jan 14--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, striving to win new allies in Latin America, arrived late Saturday in Nicaragua, where leftist leader and staunch US critic Daniel Ortega has just returned to power.
Ortega, who was the Marxist leader of the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front that ousted US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, was sworn in as president last Wednesday, promising generous anti-poverty programs, AFP reported.
Analysts believe Iran, flush with oil money, is in a position to help Ortega with his plans.
âWe will try to expand and strengthen ties in our visit to this country and talks with him,â Ahmadinejad said of Ortega before leaving Tehran.
Despite the late hour, Ahmadinejad was met at the airport by Ortega himself and other top Nicaraguan officials.
The Iranian leader began his Latin American tour Saturday in Caracas, where he met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, hailing him as an ideological ally.
Tehran and Caracas, said the Iranian president, had the task of âpromoting revolutionary thought in the worldâ.
âThe reason for all the current problems is the erroneous direction of the powerful countries, where there is poverty, hate, enmity and war,â he said.
According to the Iranian leader, western powers were responsible for âdiscrimination and injusticeâ and their only concern is âto reap their economic benefitsâ.
âAs two brother peoples and governments, we have the responsibility to promote this clear idea about the world situation,â he said to Chavez.
Chavez, who has been a vocal advocate of Tehranâs nuclear program, said Venezuela and Iran will âcontinue to act as always with one voiceâ.
Venezuela remains Iranâs main supporter of its peaceful nuclear program.
Following their talks, the two presidents of oil-rich countries announced a joint effort to obtain new OPEC oil production cuts that would stop the slumping oil prices, which have fallen 14 percent since January 1.
The announcement eclipsed the signing of 11 bilateral agreements, including a deal to create an international oil company.
âWe agreed this afternoon to coordinate our forces within OPEC,â said Chavez, the president of the only Latin American member of the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
âToday we know that there is too much crude in the market, thatâs why we support, we will support the decisions that have been taken to reduce production and protect the price of oil,â he said.
In an earlier speech to the Venezuelan Parliament, Ahmadinejad praised his host as a âfighter for just causesâ, âbrotherâ and ârevolutionaryâ.
The Iranian presidentâs visit, the second to Venezuela in five months, was the first stop in a tour aimed at strengthening ties with anti-US leaders in the region.
On Monday, Ahmadinejad and Chavez will attend the inauguration of Ecuadorâs new president Rafael Correa, who has pledged to forge stronger ties with Venezuela and allow a lease for a US military airbase on the countryâs Pacific Coast to lapse.
The Iranian president will also meet other South American presidents, including Boliviaâs Evo Morales, on the sidelines of the ceremony in Ecuador, before finishing his tour on Tuesday.